

"I realized in R&B and hip-hop songs at the time, people didn’t share the fact that a relationship was the inspiration for the songs. When recalling his inspiration for putting out the album, Usher noted that he was "going through a human moment" during the time and wanted to translate that into his music. Similarly, there was a divided response to his Confessions follow-up, Here I Stand.


It’s okay that they didn’t because it made me work harder." I do wish critics celebrated what I was working on in that time. "I feel it was partially on the story that we were telling and people getting acclimated to this new artist and having respect for or understanding of what it was for the guys who grew up with the Princes, the Michael Jacksons, the Whispers, the Isley Brothers, and the Luther Vandrosses," he tells Vulture. "They were looking at a new frontier.
